No p(a)lace for creative thinking in Malta

A couple of weeks ago Edward de Bono suggested the setting up of a Palace of Thinking in Malta as an essential foundation to creativity. To date the level of feedback has been very scarce if any at all, and for one I am absolutely not surprised. What I am surprised about is Prof. de Bono's resilience in proposing one good remedy to our competitiveness ailment, when all the other social partners can do is wrangle about wage increases as against increased productivity.

I am not surprised because I do not believe we are inclined towards exploring the benefits of creative thinking, that is, in the higher order of the subject namely thinking leading to original creativity. We are certainly very good at adopting and tailoring creativity originating elsewhere and to fire fight and address problematic situations as they arise, but this means that at best we will always follow and be reactive rather than lead and being proactive. A quick glance around us and one immediately observes that we adopt nearly everything, from legislation to television programmes. One can certainly bring a valid reason for this predisposition and I may go so far as to suggest that we should take this ability to theoretical level and conduct research and document it adequately in the realm of Small Islands theory.

As for creative thinking, I still feel that this would reap better quality benefits, however this predisposition requires a longer term cultural change. Having a physical structure like the proposed palace would accelerate the process.